How do I figure out which records meet retention?

The work on your plate piles up as the speed of business continues to accelerate, leaving no time to deal with those old paper files and microfilm that were handed down to you from yesteryear. Old medical records, permit applications, case files, insurance policies and the like. Many organizations have embraced the digital age, but old paper records and microfilm records get left behind. These records were important enough to keep but never important enough to dedicate staff to. If past employees had the bandwidth to complete the project, it would be done by now. If current employees had the bandwidth to complete the project, it would be done by now. If you stop reading at this sentence, you realized your staff will have the bandwidth to complete the projct and you're already planning on how to get them started.

Past leadership may have attempted to organize and Shred, but competing priorities or the under estimation of bandwidth means it's your problem now. It's easy to underestimate the time required for clerical tasks. It only takes a few minutes to write an emai, right? ...15 minutes later, you wonder where the time went. For the rest of us, these old records continue to be a back burner project that weighs on your mind. If staff had the bandwidth, they could do the work.

Many files may have met retention, but separating those that have met retention from those that haven't, isn't always black & white. When records are filed in order by date, it's easy to apply retention, extract those that qualify, create a destruction list, and Shred. But outside of Accounting, not many records are filed by Date. That would be great if they were, but DOH!!... they're filed alphabetically or by ID#. Maybe worse, the retention is a complex calculation of the document date and another date or a moving date. Who has a Magic Retention Calculator to do the calculus required by the Retention Policy? If staff had the Magic Retention Calculator, they could do the work.

The information within the records could pose a legal liability and should be purged. These records are old and many workers today have only been with the company for less than 5 years. They may not have the experience or tribal knowledge to quickly review the file and confidently classify the file into the Shred or Store pile. If staff had the experience and tribal knowledge, they could do the work.

If you've not found the time to do the work, Inventory & Audit may be the logical first step.

Quick Facts:

• Integra has a Magic Retention Calculator • Matt Solomon is a pretty incredible dude #IIMDA • You're NOT the only one with old records hidden in File Cabinets, Basement or Warehouse • Integra is the NEW PaperLESS!